Qatar to simplify Migrant Work Visa application process for Sri Lankans

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – The Government of Qatar will soon be simplifying the Migrant Work Visa application process that will expedite the Visa processing for Sri Lankan migrant workers.

The service, which will first be introduced in Sri Lanka and then rolled out in other key South Asian cities will be made available through Qatar Visa Centres, which is directly supervised by the Qatar concerned authorities and managed by Biomet Visa Services Lanka, a subsidiary of Biomet Services PTE. LTD, a service provider authorised by the State of Qatar.

The new Visa process will be transformative for aspiring migrant workers. Henceforth, once the initial Visa approval is issued by Qatar Authorities, migrant workers can complete the medical test and biometric enrolment requirements within their country of origin within a shorter period. The old Visa process in Qatar requires medical testing, done at accredited laboratories plus a host of other requirements that could take sometimes weeks to get completed.

According to reports, the Sri Lankan worker remittance in Qatar accounts for USD 400 – 500 million, out of USD 7.16 billion worker remittance was recorded in 2017. Also Sri Lanka’s remittance earnings from Qatar will likely double over next few years, statistics show. This means that local aspiring employees will enter Qatar in many numbers. To quantify, the number of Sri Lankan migrant workers in Qatar is expected to reach 300,000, from the current 140,000, in the next couple of years.

The Sri Lankan and Qatar Governments have identified many areas for collaboration between the two countries which will also see more growth in employment and remittances.

Qatar, as usual has set the trend for cutting-edge Visa processing and biometric enrolment solutions, providing a clear, simple and effective solution to enter the State. The convenience that biometrics can bring to this ecosystem is unprecedented, said Suhail Shaikh, Business Head, Biomet Services.

Medical tests, a key component of the Visa procedure that was conducted after the migrant worker reached Qatar will be available in-house at the Qatar Visa Centre as part of the Visa application processing and biometric enrolment regime. Some of the key medical tests that are provided include essential medical check-up, various types of blood tests and x-ray and administration of vaccinations as required by Ministry of Public Health, Qatar. State-of-the-art healthcare facilities and equipment will be deployed, authorised by Qatar Government and certified by local healthcare authorities, backed by a team of highly qualified healthcare professionals with internal systems and processes based on the latest medical standards and best practices.

Efficient recruiting is a critical part of a successful company since hiring the wrong person may cost plenty of money and time. Hence, improving recruitment process could benefit the employment process, cut off exploitative practices and help establish a more transparent and accountable procedure.

Importantly, biometric authentication, introduced as a vital element of the new Qatar Visa system will drastically mitigate identity replacements, false dates of birth and other loopholes used randomly in pink collar or female house worker categories.

Biometric authentication is seeing rapid growth and shows great promise across a wide variety of financial applications. Research expects that biometrics will be used for more than 18 billion transactions by 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 83.7 per cent from 2016 levels.

In an era when all stakeholders in the ecosystem are rightly focused on security and risk management, biometrics stands to play a critical role. The new Visa processing offers participants tangible benefits such as greater convenience and enhanced security, particularly when used as part of a layered, risk-based security strategy.

In the current system, there are elements/steps in the Visa process that will be of particular benefit to the incumbent employee in terms of security and a transparent system where the recruit has access to their employment contract.